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A German-Israeli Comparison of Informal and Formal Service Use Among Aged 75+

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Abstract

The paper focuses on filial norms and attitudes of older people about the care system of welfare states. It is a further investigation of the OASIS cross national study and examines three questions: First, what do older people in Israel and Germany consider to be the proper balance between the family and the welfare state regarding elder care? Second, what are the responsibilities of the family, the welfare state and other caregivers? Third, in what way do values, filial norms and personal resources relate to actual service use? The empirical data is based on information gathered from respondents living in Israel and Germany, aged 75+. The results of the study indicate that familial help has not been fully replaced by welfare state services. These findings support the complementary perspective. The results also show that most respondents favour a shared responsibility between the welfare state and the family. The findings indicate that familial norms are stable and strong as expressed by elders in both countries. The health situation is the main factor for receiving welfare services and familial help in Israel. In Germany the strong effect of living alone for receipt of welfare services underscores the influence of older adults’ social and personal resources on actual service use. The article discusses the findings referring to the importance of a combined mix of the different sources of help for social policy implications.

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Notes

  1. Oasis (Old Age and Autonomy: The Role of Service Systems and Intergenerational Family Solidarity) was supported by the European Commission, 5th Framework, contract No. QLK-VY-1999-02182

  2. There is no problem of multicollinearity if the filial-obligation index and the family-welfare-orientation index is included in the same model. The correlation between the indeces is below .4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Integration and Health, Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Ralf Lottmann

  2. Department of Gerontology and Center for Research and Study of Aging, The Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Ariela Lowenstein

  3. Department of Human Services and Center for Research and Study of Aging, The Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Ruth Katz

  4. Bautzener Straße 4, 10892, Berlin, Germany

    Ralf Lottmann

  5. Yezreel Academic College, Yezreel, Israel

    Ariela Lowenstein

  6. Department of Human Services, Yezreel Valley College, Yezreel, Israel

    Ruth Katz

Authors
  1. Ralf Lottmann
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  2. Ariela Lowenstein
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  3. Ruth Katz
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Correspondence to Ralf Lottmann.

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Lottmann, R., Lowenstein, A. & Katz, R. A German-Israeli Comparison of Informal and Formal Service Use Among Aged 75+. J Cross Cult Gerontol 28, 121–136 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-013-9188-3

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